Your viewing articles about; Twins and Multiple Births Association

Twins abound in British school!

A situation rife with potential confusion and hilarity exists at the Two Moors Primary School in Tiverton, U.K., but teachers and students are taking it in stride. The school’s already bustling group of six sets of twins recently received a boost when four more sets were enrolled at the school this year.

“There must be something in the water,” joked head teacher Roy Kerrigan.

School staff shake their heads and admit to being “very confused” by the situation at times.

“On occasions our twins have had fun managing to confuse the staff but at least the teachers have a 50 percent chance of getting their names wrong,” explains Kerrigan.

“It is hard to tell them apart sometimes but what happens throughout their time at school can make it easier, like losing a front tooth.”

However, this isn’t the worst it has been according to Kerrigan. He says that 10 years ago, the school had 13 sets of twins.

When asked by the Express to comment on the situation, Keith Reed, chief executive of the Twins and Multiple Births Association, said: “About one in 34 babies is a twin or triplet, so for one in every 22.5 children to be a twin at Two Moors Primary is above average.”

“Multiples are becoming more common place as mothers become pregnant at an older age and as there is an increase in technologies increasing conception.”

While managing 10 sets of twins at one school seems daunting, it could be worse. It seems that Armstrong Elementary School in Garland, Texas had 19 sets of twins this past year.

         

Welcome back! If you love Baby Chums, please subscribe to our RSS feed.
Thanks for dropping by and enjoy!

---

British Mother Makes History By Delivering Twins 10 Seconds Apart

A British woman has made history by delivering her twins just ten seconds apart.

On average, mothers will usually take around two minutes to deliver twin babies. This is the first time in Britain that twins will be recorded with the identical time of birth and weight.

Samantha Heal and her partner Mark Down, from Exeter, delivered the twin girls at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital. Both girls weighed 5lb 11oz, and have been named Sophie and Nicole Down.

The Sun newspaper quoted Heal as saying “The girls are extra special. I am really excited,”

         

IVF Twins Have Greater Risk Of Serious Illness Or Early Death

Twins conceived from IVF have been found in a study to be at greater risk of serious illness or dying within their first three years of live than twins which have been conceived naturally.

The study also found that twins born as a result of fertility treatment stay in hospital on average four days longer after the birth. They also have a two-thirds higher chance that they will be admitted to a neo-natal intensive care unit, and of returning to hospital in their first three years.

Researchers at the universities of Western Australia and Oxford also found that IVF twins were more than twice as likely to die either before or just after they were born. They were unable to provide any explanation for their findings.

The findings which were published in the journal Human Reproduction, recommended that couples are made aware of the risks involved with multiple births, and that they should be advised to consider implanting one embryo at a time into the womb.

Presently, between 20 and 30 percent of couples undergoing fertility treatment conceive twins. This compares to just 1 percent of natural conceptions resulting in twins.

IVF Twins are more likely to be non-identical as more than one embryo has been implanted into the mother.

Clinics are now being advised by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority to transfer one embryo per treatment session.

Births of two or more babies have more risks involved as there is a higher chance that the infants will be born premature or underweight. There is also a higher risk of cerebral palsy, congenital heart disease or vision problems.

Mothers face more health complications as a result of multiple-births, and have a higher chance of heavy bleeding, miscarriage, diabetes or pre-eclampsia.

Researcher Michèle Hansen, from the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research in Perth, commented: “Couples undergoing fertility treatment should be aware that, in addition to the known increased . . . risks associated with a twin birth, ART [assisted reproductive technology] twins are more likely than spontaneously conceived twins to be admitted to . . . intensive care and to be hospitalised in their first three years of life.”

The study investigated hospital records of twins born both naturally and from fertility treatment, both of identical and non-identical twins. They also considered factors such as the mothers age, year of birth and number of time the woman had given birth in the past.

         

Shocked Mother Discovers Her Twins Have Two Different Fathers

A Texan mother has astonished doctors by the discovery that her twin boys have two different fathers.

Shocked Mia Washington and her partner had been confused that the boys did not look facially alike.

Paternity tests later revealed that the 11-month-old twins Justin and Jordan had a 99.99% chance of having different fathers.

Doctors later explained that two eggs had been fertilized at the same time by the sperm of two different men.

The mother later admitted that she had not been faithful to her partner, and had had an affair at the time of the pregnancy.

Washington told Fox News “Out of all people in America and of all people in the world, it had to happen to me,”

“I’m very shocked.”

Although it is very rare, and there is only a few cases that have been documented worldwide, it can happen.

When twins have different fathers, it is called heteropaternal superfecundation.

         

Mothers of Multiple Births Have An Increased Risk of Baby Blues

A survey shows that mothers of twins and triplets have a greater risk of getting postpartum depression.

A new study has shown that mothers who give birth to multiple babies, have twice the risk of getting the baby blues or postpartum depression. It was shown that mothers of twins or triplets were more exhausted and took care of themselves less, which led them to develop the baby blues more easily. Even though they have more than one baby, they seem to get no more help than mothers with one baby at a time.

The Twins and Multiple Births Association (Tamba) surveyed approximately 1400 multiple birth mothers and found out that 17% of those moms suffered from some sort of post natal depression. This is almost double the rate of what single birth mothers have reported.

Maggie Couston, a psychologist and mother of triplets, said: “The months after my triplets’ birth should have been a joyful experience but instead I felt exhausted and isolated.”  She goes on to say, “My babies were the most precious thing in the world to me but I thought I wasn’t good enough for them and frequently thought of ending things or walking away.”

According to the researchers, simple things like parent education classes and providing support to the mother in the first few weeks after birth can dramatically help a new mother not suffer from severe postpartum depression.